Religious Revival and Secularism in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan

Religious Revival and Secularism in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan PDF

Author: Dobroslawa Wiktor-Mach

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2017-07-10

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 3110536463

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The book explores the complex world of Islam from the perspective of its adherents and activists in Azerbaijan. Baku, the most secular Muslim capital city, is a battlefield for the minds and souls of „ethnic Muslims.” Visiting pirs was till now the typical expression of religiosity among Azerbaijani Muslims. Sunni-Shia division was blurred. Nowadays, Shia and Sunni Muslim movements propose new distinctive identities. Foreign and local preachers took advantage of liberal religious policies of the 1990s to promote their ideas. Salafis stress the „pristine” Islam and the idea of universalism, while Shias underline rationality in their faith tradition. Turkish model of Islam is more inclusive towards local customs. Sufism, although not as powerful as before, also finds a committed audience. Finally, independent charismatic local leaders gain supporters. The book investigates how this pluralism affects both religious groups and believers. Competitive environment requires effective strategies and flexibility. In this process, the traditional dominance of Shiism is challenged by Sunni movements. Shiism, however, is not giving up and adapts its concepts and practices to contemporary contexts.

Religious Revival and Secularism in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan

Religious Revival and Secularism in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan PDF

Author: Dobroslawa Wiktor-Mach

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2017-07-10

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 3110534630

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The book explores the complex world of Islam from the perspective of its adherents and activists in Azerbaijan. Baku, the most secular Muslim capital city, is a battlefield for the minds and souls of „ethnic Muslims.” Visiting pirs was till now the typical expression of religiosity among Azerbaijani Muslims. Sunni-Shia division was blurred. Nowadays, Shia and Sunni Muslim movements propose new distinctive identities. Foreign and local preachers took advantage of liberal religious policies of the 1990s to promote their ideas. Salafis stress the „pristine” Islam and the idea of universalism, while Shias underline rationality in their faith tradition. Turkish model of Islam is more inclusive towards local customs. Sufism, although not as powerful as before, also finds a committed audience. Finally, independent charismatic local leaders gain supporters. The book investigates how this pluralism affects both religious groups and believers. Competitive environment requires effective strategies and flexibility. In this process, the traditional dominance of Shiism is challenged by Sunni movements. Shiism, however, is not giving up and adapts its concepts and practices to contemporary contexts.

The Caliph and the Imam

The Caliph and the Imam PDF

Author: Toby Matthiesen

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2023-03-09

Total Pages: 961

ISBN-13: 0198806558

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The authoritative account of the sectarian division that for centuries has shaped events in the Middle East and the Islamic world. In 632, soon after the prophet Muhammad died, a struggle broke out among his followers as to who would succeed him. The majority argued that the new leader of Islam should be elected by the community's elite. Others believed only members of Muhammad's family could lead. This dispute over whoshould guide Muslims, the appointed Caliph or the bloodline Imam, marks the origin of the Sunni-Shii split in Islam. Toby Matthiesen explores this hugely significant division from its origins to thepresent day. Moving chronologically, his book sheds light on the many ways that it has shaped the Islamic world, outlining how over the centuries Sunnism and Shiism became Islams two main branches, particularly after the Muslim Empires embraced sectarian identity. It reveals how colonial rule institutionalised divisions between Sunnism and Shiism both on the Indian subcontinent and in the greater Middle East, giving rise to pan-Islamic resistance and Sunni and Shii revivalism. It then focuseson the fall-out from the 1979 revolution in Iran and the US-led military intervention in Iraq. As Matthiesen shows, however, though Sunnism and Shiism have had a long and antagonistic history, mostMuslims have led lives characterised by confessional ambiguity and peaceful co-existence. Tensions arise when sectarian identity becomes linked to politics. Based on a synthesis of decades of scholarship in numerous languages, The Caliph and the Imam will become the standard text for readers looking for a deeper understanding of contemporary sectarian conflict and its historical roots.

Religious Tourism in Asia

Religious Tourism in Asia PDF

Author: Shin Yasuda

Publisher: CABI

Published: 2018-11-05

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 1786392348

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The Asia-Pacific region is considered the world's religious core, with the greatest number of pilgrims and travellers to religious events for both international and domestic tourism. It is estimated that there are approximately 600 million national and international religious and spiritual voyages in the world, of which over half take place in Asia. This book focuses on tourism and sacred sites in Asia. Contemporary case studies of religious and pilgrimage activities provide key learning points and present practical examples from this 'hub' of pilgrimage destinations. They explore ancient, sacred and emerging tourist destinations and new forms of pilgrimage, faith systems and quasi-religious activities. It will be of interest to researchers within religious, cultural, heritage and Asian tourism. Key features include: - An Asian perspective on a growing area of tourism. - Case studies from across the continent. - Full-colour images of pilgrimage sites and key destinations bring the topic to life.

Religion, Nation and Democracy in the South Caucasus

Religion, Nation and Democracy in the South Caucasus PDF

Author: Alexander Agadjanian

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-10-10

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 1317691571

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This book explores developments in the three major societies of the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – focusing especially on religion, historical traditions, national consciousness, and political culture, and on how these factors interact. It outlines how, despite close geographical interlacement, common historical memories and inherited structures, the three countries have deep differences; and it discusses how development in all three nations has differed significantly from the countries’ declared commitments to democratic orientation and European norms and values. The book also considers how external factors and international relations continue to impact on the three countries.

Muslim National Communism in the Soviet Union

Muslim National Communism in the Soviet Union PDF

Author: Alexandre A. Bennigsen

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1980-09-15

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0226042367

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In this study, Bennigsen and Wimbush trace the development of the doctrine of national communism in Central Asia and the Caucasus. At the heart of this doctrine—as elaborated by the Volga Tatar, Mir-Said Sultan Galiev—was the concept of "proletarian nations," as opposed to the traditional notion of a working class. With such ideological innovations, Sultan Galiev and his contemporaries were able to reconcile Marxist nationalisms and Islam and devise an "Eastern strategy" whereby the national revolution was to be spread. The authors show that the ideas of Muslim national communism persist in the land of their birth and have spread to such developing societies as China, Algeria, and Indonesia. This doctrine is an important factor in the ideological split and increasing tensions between industrial and nonindustrial nations, East and West, and now North and South, which grip the world communist movement.

Religion and Nationalism in Global Perspective

Religion and Nationalism in Global Perspective PDF

Author: J. Christopher Soper

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-10-11

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1107189438

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Offers a new framework for understanding how religion and nationalism interact across diverse countries and religious traditions.

Sacred Places, Emerging Spaces

Sacred Places, Emerging Spaces PDF

Author: Tsypylma Darieva

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2018-02-19

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1785337831

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Though long-associated with violence, the Caucasus is a region rich with religious conviviality. Based on fresh ethnographies in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian Federation, Sacred Places, Emerging Spaces discusses vanishing and emerging sacred places in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious post-Soviet Caucasus. In exploring the effects of de-secularization, growing institutional control over hybrid sacred sites, and attempts to review social boundaries between the religious and the secular, these essays give way to an emergent Caucasus viewed from the ground up: dynamic, continually remaking itself, within shifting and indefinite frontiers.

Women in Muslim Societies

Women in Muslim Societies PDF

Author: Herbert L. Bodman (Jr.)

Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 9781555875787

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Authors from a variety of disciplines assess the issues facing women in Muslim societies not only in the Middle East but also in Africa and Asia. They stress the importance of historical context, local customs and policies in defining the status of Muslim women, and examine how women are coping with challenges such as modernity and conservative reaction.

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